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How much Google, Facebook, other tech giants pay software engineers

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When recent college graduates and friends Zuhayeer Musa and Zaheer Mohiuddin started to break into the software industry, everything they found on the internet about engineering jobs seemed to be missing the actual information they needed: How much do these jobs pay?

Software engineers straight out of college often make six-figure salaries, not counting equity compensation. Depending on seniority, some coders make millions of dollars per year. But where on that spectrum any given engineer lands often depends on a single number — what’s often called a “level.”

At Google, for example, entry-level engineers start at Level 3. Apple has five levels for engineers, from ICT2 up to ICT6. Microsoft’s system starts at 59 for a software development engineer and goes up to 80 for a “technical fellow,” or one of the leaders of their given field.

The higher your level is, the higher your compensation — and Musa and Mohiuddin realized that their peers had a lot of questions about how the levels worked. If a Level 4 at Google gets a new job at Facebook, what level should they be? If someone gets promoted to ICT3 at Apple, how much should they make?

“In this new age where churn rates are very high, people are hopping around much more than they used to be,” Musa said. “It’s useful to know about levels if you’re going to Facebook to Microsoft to Amazon to Google, you want to know where you’re coming in and what your level is.”

So the two friends made a website to crowdsource Silicon Valley salary data from workers at big tech companies, and it took off.

“It’s personal for me. I was going through a job transition myself, I had only 2 years experience but had gotten promoted,” Mohiuddin said, adding that he’s seen friends get screwed over when changing companies.

“We both decided why not build a simple, visual tool, showing levels across the different companies?” Musa added.

Salaries start over $150,000

street sign reading ‘Hacker Way’ is seen in the parking lot of the Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California.

Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images

The crowdsourced data on levels.fyi shows that software engineers get paid extremely well at companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft.

Levels.fyi estimates that a Level 3 at Google, or an entry-level engineer who likely just graduated from college, should make $189,000 in total compensation, or about $124,000 in salary and $43,000 in stock compensation. At Facebook, an E3 — an entry-level “software engineer 3” — should make $166,000 per year total, according to the levels.fyi estimate.

Compensation goes up as level goes up and can even accelerate in an exponential fashion, the website’s founders said.

For example, at Google a Level 7, which is considered the top level for the vast majority of engineers, can make $608,000, according to levels.fyi.

“It differs from company to company, but a bunch of companies have converged on almost the same system where there will be about six levels,” said Osman Ahmed Osman, a former Quora hiring manager who is now writing a book on technical recruiting. Each level has a slightly different job title at each company, but they closely correlate.

“Google and Facebook are examples of companies where things are pretty similar,” he continued.

The companies do have slightly different nomenclature. Apple’s levels, for example, are called ICT, for “individual contributor tech.” Salesforce’s levels are called MTS, for member of technical staff.

The data on Levels.fyi is crowdsourced, which raises several risks that the data may be unreliable, including a self-selecting population — after all, the people most likely to submit their compensation details are those that make a lot of money.

But the founders of levels.fyi stand behind what they’ve collected and how they remove outliers and other unreliable data points, and say it matches up closely with the kind of compensation datasets that firms like Radford or Connery Consulting sell — and they claim that that recruiters and HR people tell them they rely on it.

They also point out that the website enables people to drill down into each given estimate to see specific data points, including the submitter’s speciality and location.

A powerful negotiation tool

Engineers who have achieved a level at a big company wonder what level they might be at a smaller firm — and whether that comes with a pay bump.

“Most companies will have compensation bands that basically specify that if you’re level three then your salary range has this low end and this is the high end,” Osman said.

But companies aren’t always transparent about what the range is for any given position, which makes negotiating for more money even harder, which is why Musa and Mohiuddin decided to crowdsource that information.

“You’re probably making six figures if you’re a software engineer,” Musa said. “But there are senior engineers making crazy amounts in the millions. It’s eye opening, and that’s why we built this.”

“Something that we’ve found that people value on the site is that we tie compensation to a specific level. Glassdoor or other pay sites don’t make the connection between level and pay,” he continued.

“A lot of people who see our site can’t believe the numbers initially. I thought that too,” Mohiuddin said. “It’s pretty wild. Some folks with a few years experience are making a couple hundred of thousands of dollars.”

The downside to the leveling system is that there can be an up-or-out culture based on the levels, Musa said. Another downside is that that the laddering system could exacerbate the diversity issues big tech companies face.

“If you’re a candidate it’s really hard for you to navigate, and of course that has implications on fairness and diversity,” Osman said. “If you’re letting people earn more just because they can negotiate their way to the higher end of the band, you end up with white men who are overpaid and other people who are not encouraged to negotiate who tend to be underpaid.”

The leveling system may also drive upward pressure on salaries throughout Silicon Valley, which is great for technical employees in high demand, but contributes to a high cost of living that can make it hard for people in less remunerative industries to live in the area.

“As a general trend, I think what happens is every time Google and Facebook realize they’re losing too many mid-level career folk, they bump the compensation level up,” said Harj Taggar, the founder of Triplebyte, a software company that places engineers at tech companies like Apple.

“The Uber or Slacks are going to need to increase their base salary, and when the Uber and Slacks start pushing their salary up, then the Series B and Series C startups need to push their salaries up,” Taggar continued.

Facebook and Google tend to lead the market for software engineers, and their salary hikes set the pace for Silicon Valley, he continued.

“The rising compensation of Bay Area software engineers, the source of that is Google and Facebook,” Taggar said.

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If there’s a weak spot in the levels.fyi data, it’s at the very highest levels, where an individual engineer can earn millions of dollars.

“When you start getting into 4 or 5 years in, the people who are more naturally skilled have the opportunity to show just how much more productive they are,” Taggar said, and that’s when compensation can balloon.

Turns out, there just aren’t many people at the highest levels.

For example, while most Google engineers realistically see Level 7 as the cap for most careers, some particularly distinguished software developers can go higher. Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat, who are among the most skilled coders in the entire world in Google’s system, have achieved Level 11, according to a December 2018 profile in The New Yorker.

“It’s kind of pyramid shaped that the higher you get up that ladder, the fewer people there are at that level,” Osman said.

“The majority of engineers fall between L3 and L5 if we’re using the generic levels. At most companies, staff level is somewhat of a career level, and you can be at that level at the rest of your life,” Mohiuddin said.

Not invented here

Zuhayeer Musa and Zaheer Mohiuddin, levels.fyi founders.

Zuhayeer Musa and Zaheer Mohiuddin

Osman says that although Silicon Valley companies often act as if they invented the technical ladder, it’s actually been in place for over 70 years at various companies.

He’s tracked the origins of the system to DuPont in the post-World War II era, and says that it was invented to give talented technical people an ability to grow and progress in their careers without joining management and climbing that ladder.

The manager ladder wasn’t “interesting for technical people because they don’t want to be managers,” Osman said. “They want to continue doing technical work.”

The levels.fyi founders are expanding and collecting data from different fields now, and finding that those professions often have their own ladders, too.

Up next for the duo: finance.

“Investment banking is very level focused. It’s fewer levels but more standardized,” Mohiuddin said. “Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Citi, it’s very similar in terms of analyst, associate, VP, MD — it’s more standard and more well known.”

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Entry Level Software Developer Salary Expectations

If you’ve considered becoming a software developer, you’ve most likely wondered about what what the entry level software developer  salary is?. Will you be able to make ends meet as a software engineer in your first years of employment? Will your salary increase significantly over time? Are there certain industries in which you might be paid more than in others?
The great news is that the demand for software developers is at an all-time high and only keeps growing. Software developers are so highly in demand and employers are willing to pay the price to outbid their competition. Read below to find out what salary entry level software developers are getting. Maybe afterwards you’ll be ready to sign up for a Coding Dojo bootcamp to get your new career started.
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Employment Status

Most organizations pay software developers an annual salary rather than an hourly rate. Whether you are considered exempt or non-exempt (which primarily affects how you are paid for overtime but also affects other areas of employment), however, will depend on your roles and responsibilities within the organization and may vary from one position to the next.
You can determine an approximate hourly rate of pay by taking the annual salary offered divided by 2,080 for a full-time position. Likewise, you can multiply an hourly rate by 2,080 to determine your annual salary. There also plenty of online resources that can help you determine your salary or houry rate, including ADP and SmartAsset.

Entry-Level Software Development Salaries

According to Glassdoor.com, the latest national average entry-level software developer salary is $62,000 USD. That is the average, so if you’re starting salary could be higher or lower depending on your location or the company itself. Some companies start software developers out below that number—as low as $50,000—and some start software developers out significantly higher than that, even as high as $91,000 annually.
You can expect your salary to increase rapidly as you gain experience and longevity with an organization. The overall average software engineer salary for all levels of experience is $108,000 according to Glassdoor and just under $119,000 according to Indeed. By the time you have a few years under your belt, your salary could range anywhere from $120,000 to $180,000, but many companies pay experienced software developers much more than that.

High Paying Industries

Regardless of your field, you will definitely have plenty of options to choose from when you’re looking for an entry-level software development job.
Non-profit organizations, companies in early start-up phases and smaller tech companies tend to offer less in terms of compensation, although their benefits package might be more extensive. That could include more unique perks like unlimited time off, pet insurance, stock options, remote work, or much more. On top of that, these companies could offer more room for advancement as the company grows with your career.
On the flip side, companies like Microsoft, LinkedIn, Amazon in tech hubs (Seattle and San Francisco) or bigger cities (Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago) tend to offer higher entry-level software salaries and more established benefits, although they make lack some of the more unique perks a startup may have. This list of companies should give you a good idea of the highest paying companies for software developers.
Keep in mind that the level of professionalism required and the roles, responsibilities, and expectations the organization has for you typically matches the compensation. This means that a higher-paying job most often demands more of your time and resources and requires a higher level of professionalism. Some people might be looking for less responsibility as they learn the ropes in order to avoid excessive responsibility while others strive for leadership positions as soon as their feet hit the floor. Only you can determine whether a position is within your comfort zone or not.
A common mistake made by new graduates is dismissing or overlooking benefits and simply choosing the highest salary offered. A difference of just 1% in retirement match or 10% in health insurance premium paid by the employer can quickly eat up the additional salary offered. Take into consideration salary and benefits when accepting, declining, or negotiating an offer.

Opportunity for Advancement

Opportunities for advancement may make or break an offer depending on your personal and professional goals. Many organizations have a lead software developer, director of software development, software development project coordinator, or some combination or variation of the three. Opportunity for an increase in responsibility equals opportunity for professional development and increased compensation and benefits. Be sure to ask prospective employers to describe the chain of command or structure of the IT/software development department or division.
A career in software development can easily provide a comfortable or even luxurious lifestyle. Asking the right questions, considering the right factors, and choosing your employer carefully can ensure a successful and fruitful career in software development.

Now What?

If you are interested in learning how to code and taking your career to the next level, Coding Dojo bootcamps offer accelerated learning programs that can transform and upgrade your life. We offer both part-time and full-time online courses, as well as onsite programs. We also offer financing options, scholarships, and other tuition assistance programs to help you with financial barriers. 
If you want to invest in yourself and your future, there is no better time than the present! If you’re interested, use this link to schedule a 15-minute exploratory session with one of our Admissions representatives today.

Software Engineer Salary and Requirements

By

Robert Half

on May 16, 2022 at 7:30am

As our lives become more digitized, software engineers — the creative and technical minds behind the computer programs, applications and systems that power everything from spacecraft to smartphones — are more sought after than ever. Highly skilled software engineers can earn robust compensation today, and the need for these specialized skills across industries can help drive salaries for software engineer jobs even higher over the next few years.

So, if you’re a talented coder and a natural problem solver, software engineering could be the career for you. This post answers basic questions about this role, including:

• What does a software engineer do?
• What type of starting software engineer salary should you expect?
• How do you become a software engineer?
• How long does it take to become a software engineer?
• What does it take to succeed as a software engineer?

Let’s start from the top, with an overview of typical responsibilities for software engineer jobs.

What does a software engineer do?

Simply put, software engineers write software according to engineering principles. That means they come up with elegant and robust solutions to what are often complex problems.

These tech pros are often given the freedom to be bold and creative in their work. They will frequently question — and, if necessary, revise — the original project specifications. This distinguishes them from software developers, who typically work within a predefined set of requirements.

The day-to-day responsibilities of a software engineer may include:

• Designing engineering specifications for software programs and applications
• Working with the quality assurance team to develop software test plans
• Collaborating with hardware engineers to assess and test hardware and software interactions
• Implementing a specific development methodology
• Documenting software specifications

Candidates for this position should have broad information systems experience and strong critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. They should be adept at programming and working in a team environment and possess excellent communication skills. Software engineers are also expected to produce well-organized, optimized and documented source code quickly.

What type of starting software engineer salary should you expect?

In the latest Robert Half Salary Guide, the starting salary for a software engineer who has an average level of experience and most of the necessary skills for the role is $124,500. (Refer to the guide to see projected salaries for software engineers who have more skills and experience, and for those who are new to this career path and just starting to build relevant skills.)

As with most jobs, the level of compensation professionals can earn in software engineer jobs can vary depending on where they work. Our Salary Calculator can help you get an idea of the starting software engineer salary you could potentially earn in your market.

How do you become a software engineer?

Most employers expect candidates for this job to have a bachelor’s degree in a related field, such as computer science or electrical engineering. You also need a solid foundation in one of the major programming languages, such as Java, C++ and C#. It helps if you can show completed projects in at least one of these languages.

Employers also look for candidates with a broad range of tech skills. Depending on the job, you may need to show proficiency in:

• Linux, 3SQL and databases
• Containerization systems like Kubernetes or Docker
• Frameworks such as .NET or Ruby on Rails

Most important, you’ll need the enthusiasm and mental agility to master new technologies in record time. Software engineers never stop learning. They’re always tracking developments and engaging with other engineers. Joining relevant conversations on sites like Stack Overflow and Quora can help you keep your knowledge up to date.

How long does it take to become a software engineer?

You’ll likely need at least four years to complete your degree, plus several more years of software development experience to become a software engineer. Many employers hiring for software engineer jobs look for candidates with about five years of work experience, although this varies depending on the nature of the role.

You might start your software engineering career path in a support or analyst role, which can help you gain hands-on experience with enterprise software and production systems. Your next step might be a junior software developer job, which can provide the opportunity to build and deploy new software.

However, the quality of your experience is often more important than quantity. Employers might take a chance on an up-and-coming tech professional if you have a substantial portfolio of completed work. That’s why it’s a good idea to keep your online portfolio, like on GitHub, current with any projects you’ve worked on in your spare time.

What does it take to succeed as a software engineer?

Software engineers are problem solvers at heart. They step in where there’s no clear path forward, and they help find the best solution. To succeed in software engineer jobs, you need to be creative, curious and fearless.

A standout software engineer complements their tech abilities with excellent soft skills. They attend scrums with their team, give presentations to project stakeholders and write documentation for software. In short, you need to be an effective collaborator and an excellent communicator who knows how to get your message across both verbally and in writing.

As for what type of company you might end up working for as a software engineer, it really depends on your interests, because almost every major industry today is in need of software engineering skills. Retail, healthcare, hi-tech and government are just some examples of sectors where many employers are on the lookout for skilled and promising software engineers, and where you can build a rewarding career.

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How Much Does a Programmer Engineer Make – All Secrets

Many people, when they hear the word “engineer”, imagine something incredibly complex, but well paid. However, there are different types of engineers in the world, and they all have their own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. Recently, the specialty engineer programmer has attracted a lot of attention due to its high wages. People keep saying that this profession is very lucrative and worth the close attention of young professionals. If you are thinking about trying on the position of a programmer technician or you are just interested in software engineering, salary and other conditions of their work, then you have visited the right guide!

At the very beginning, I will try to briefly tell you about software engineering and its features. Since now you can often come across a similar question “ Software engineering is the same as software development ?” – We will answer it. After that, we will look at the different groups of software engineers, and then finally we will move on to the salary that working as a programmer can bring you.

Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Different Types of Software Engineers
• 2.1. Entry Level Programmer Engineer
• 2.2. Junior Engineer Programmer
• 2.3. Senior Engineer Programmer
• 3. Salary of Engineer Programmer
• 3.1. Entry Level Salaries
• 3.2. Salaries of Junior Engineer
• 3.3. Senior Engineer Salaries
• 4. Conclusion

Introduction

It is very important to talk about software engineering in general, because in this case you will have a better understanding of all aspects of this work. Moreover, as mentioned at the beginning of the guide, you need to dispel all doubts about software development and software engineering!

Despite the fact that many people often confuse them, they are two completely different things. A good way to draw a line of difference is to realize that a software engineer can be involved in software development if he wants to. However, a software engineer cannot handle software engineering .